Chondrocladia magna Tanita 1965: 159 (Poecilosclerida: Cladorhizidae)
Columnar shape, more than 300mm height, gradually tapering to top of the body.
Mid-part of the sponge, about 50mm in diameter. Color, light orange in life, white in
preserved specimen. Surface of the body, covered by numerous thin digitate processes
(fig. 1). Size of the process, 40–50mm in length, 3–4mm in width. Surface of the
process velvety due to projecting spicules (Tanita did not describe this spicule as
megasclere or microsclere but these are definitely megascleres). Surface of the main
body, relatively coarse.
Tightly and spirally packed spicule bundle (20 mm in diameter) running
longitudinally thorough axis of the main body, thin spicule bundles radially projecting
from the axis. Large space existing between axis and ectosome. Ectosome, about 3mm
in thickness composed of numerous spicules. Axis of digitate processes composed of
spicule bundle bearing radially arranged smaller spicules. Megasclere: style (fig. 2)
(Tanita described “tylostyle like style”), smooth, almost straight. Length of style, very
variable depending on part of the body, 900–2000¼m. Width, 20–35¼m. Microsclere:
isochelae like anchorate chelae (anchorate isochelae) (fig. 3), slightly arched, bearing 4
to 5 teeth on the both tips (no size description). Few sigma also observed (no figure or
size description). Loacality, off Kushiro and off Miyako, 500–600m depth.
(Y. Ise, personal translation)